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http://europa.eu/abc/12lessons/lesson_7/index_en.htm

Europe's Economic Systems

The European Union:

The European Union (the EU) plays a large part in the economic system of Europe. The EU runs in democratic countries in Europe, 27 in all and is a partnership in politics and economics. A few parts of the EU are the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the European Commission. Each part represents a different part of society. The Council of the European Union represents national governments, the European Parliament represents the people, and the European Commission represents the common EU interest. The EU is now helping Europe work towards a unified economic system.

Some accomplishments of the EU are:

- the euro
-frontier-free travel and trade
-cheaper phone calls
-better living conditions for the poor

There are three countries of for candidacy in the EU and a few more, such as Iceland and Norway, that are still part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which was established earlier than the EU.

The European economy is based on these components:
-Industry
-Agriculture
-Tourism
-Transportation
-Forestry
-Trade and Commerce

http://europa.eu/abc/panorama/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/abc/index_en.htm



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The Status of the EU

[[[[http://www.uncp.edu/home/ rwb/hst332_p5.htm|www.uncp.edu/home/ rwb/hst332_p5.htm]]]]

Exports and Imports:

Europe's major exports are machinery, aircraft, plastics, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, meat, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, dairy products, fish, and alcoholic beverages.

Europe's major imports are machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, and clothing.


https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ee.html


Economic Condition:

Unfortunately, the current economic condition of Europe is not so good (as of 2009). Like the rest of the world, Europe is also being effected by the world's unbalanced economic condition. Experts are having a hard time predicting where the European economy is heading, but it as long as the rest of the world is in trouble, the European economy is not likely to improve much.

Like the U.S., in Europe important things such as real estate and foreign trade is being effected negatively by the economy, and financial flow is not the way it should be. Debt and unemployment are also an issue. As of 2008, the unemployment rate in Europe was 7.4% . Leaders of Europe say that it will take a while to pull themselves out of their economic crisis even after their systems are more stabilized.

http://www.ecb.int/press/key/date/2009/html/sp090330.en.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ee.html